Last week, Aaron Sorkin’s Studio 60 finally arrived—was it worse than you expected, or better than you feared? Either way, it proves that autumn, with its flood of capital-C culture, is the season of thwarted expectations. Take The Emperor’s Children, the novel already so loudly trumpeted you’d think it was the Bible, The Iliad, and The Corrections combined. And the hyperventilating critical blitz behind The Wire means the show could well disappoint every new viewer it’s won. Meanwhile, Jon Heder officially fritters away the last of his post–Napoleon Dynamite goodwill, and Marie Antoinette—booed at Cannes, embraced in Toronto, opening here October 13—enjoys an unlikely boost from negative festival buzz.

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• Articles by Adam Sternbergh
• Table of Contents: Oct 2, 2006 issue of New York | Subscribe!